I recently visited a home for women aged 18-29 that were recovering from addiction. There are many different types of recovery programs, this one was faith-based. To live in the house, the women had to follow the house rules, and a rigid daily routine. They contributed to the house by doing daily tasks. If they are successful with their recovery, they will graduate. They now have a chance to live an addiction free life, and as I like to say, "let life lead them".
My understanding is that there are several different ways that women can enter a recovery program. There are referrals, voluntary admission and some are mandated by law.
As I have shared, I am not religious, I am spiritual. For me, my god of my understanding is God. I recently had a conversation with an Aboriginal Faith Healer. It was interesting because he said I didn't pray enough. He also reminded me that God, the Creator, gives us what we need, not what we want. We have to work at getting what we want. He also spoke about how we have to listen to know what we truly need. For those of you that practice prayer and follow God's direction this will be very easy for you. For me, it will be described more as, I need to open myself up more to understand and let life lead me. I have decided I need to be more aware of those moments where thoughts just pop into my head. Times where we say, "I just thought of something...." or "I just figured it out". Those thoughts that fleetingly go through our heads are often solutions to problems, ideas or simple clarity. Yesterday, I searched all 905 square feet of my place several times over to find my phone. It had really hidden itself good this time. I was secretly hoping someone would send me a text or phone so I could track it down. As I often do, I let it go and carried on with cleaning my fridge. Then a little voice in my head said, "have you checked your purse?". Somehow my phone had made its way into my purse in the closet. I had to smile because it was the very thing I was writing about, random thoughts of clarity. You can make your own decision as to where those thoughts come from. For me, I had exhausted my own thoughts, it was someone else trying to help me.
I have reflected on the advice from the Faith Healer, and I started to realize that part of letting life lead you is listening, truly listening. There are cues out there, some are subtle, but others are screaming at us. That simple comment from someone, could be a total stranger, is life leading us, or trying to. When I started my life in Brandon, I found myself doing things that someone had suggested I do. I needed others to lead me into a new way of living. It was because I listened to others that I got my job at the University, bought my condo and a multitude of other things I needed in my life. I have come to realize that we don't need to be in a vulnerable place to let others lead us, we need it all the time.
I have the catch phrase, "once you try to control a situation, the situation controls you". We are a society of quick fixes. We want things to be dealt with so we can move on. If we give up control and let things happen the way they are meant to, it is so much easier. So often, we want to hang on in the hopes things will swing our way. By letting something go, it is how it is meant to be. I think it would be okay to say, "listen more, control less".
I read about this activity and so I tried it. It suggested I write 10 things that were good in my life. Then I was to write 10 things that needed to be changed in my life. I was surprised when I was unable to get a total of 10 things I thought needed to be changed. In closing, I am suggesting you try this little activity. Who knows, your list may be just the direction for you to let go of things and let life lead you. At the very least you will have developed a list of 10 things you are grateful for, that will make for good reflection.
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